Web Development

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Web Development Design Foundations with XHTML

• Chapter 13Key Concepts

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Learning Outcomes

• In this chapter, you will learn how to
• describe the difference between search engines
  and search indexes
• describe the components of a search engine
• design web pages that are friendly to search
  engines
• request that a web site is added to a search
  engine
• monitor a search engine listing
• describe other web site promotion activities
• Configure an inline frame using the ltiframegt
  element

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Popular Search Engines Search Indexes

• Google Yahoo! --
• the two most popular sites used for searching
  the Web during a recent month

Source http//www.nielsennetratings.com/pr/pr_070
919.pdf
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Search Index(aka Search Directory)

• Popular Search Indexes
• Yahoo! http//www.yahoo.com
• Open Directory http//www.dmoz.org
• A search directory maintains a hierarchical
  category of topics and places web site listings
  into these categories.
• Search either by typing in a search term OR
  "drilling" down into the hierarchy for relevant
  sites.
• Each site is reviewed by an editor before
  accepted into a directory

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Search EngineComponents

• Popular Search Engines
• Google http//www.google.com
• MSN http//msn.com
• Search engines use the following components
• Robot or spider
• Database (also used by search indexes)
• Search form (also used by search indexes)

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Search Engine Robot

• Also called a spider or bot
• A computer program that follows hyperlinks and
  walks the Web -- accessing and documenting Web
  pages.
• Categorizes the pages and stores information in a
  database.
• May access the following components of Web pages
  
• title,
• meta tag keywords meta tag description
• text in headings
• other text on the page
• hyperlinks
• See http//www.robotstxt.org

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Search EngineDatabase

• Database
• A collection of information organized so that its
  contents can easily be accessed, managed, and
  updated.
• Database Management Systems (DBMSs)
• Configure and manage database
• Oracle, MySQL, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2
• Search Engine Database
• Contains information about web pages

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Search Engine Search Form

• The part you are most familiar with!
• The search form is the graphical user interface
  that allows a user to request a word or phrase to
  search for. It is usually just a text box and a
  submit button.
• The visitor to the search engine types words
  (called keywords) related to their search into
  the text box.
• When the form is submitted, the data typed into
  the text box is sent to a server-side script that
  searches the database using the keywords you have
  entered.
• The search results (also called a result set) is
  a list that contains information such as the URLs
  for web pages that meet your criteria.

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Search Engine Results Page (SERP)

• A list of items that describe Web pages matching
  the search terms.
• Each item contains a link to a page along with
  additional information that might include the
  page title, a brief description, the first few
  lines of text, the size of the page, and so on.
• The order the Web page items are displayed in the
  SERP may depend on
• paid advertisements
• alphabetical order
• link popularity
• Each search engine has their own policy for
  ordering the search results.

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Designing Web Pagesfor Promotion

• Keywords
• Terms and phrases that people may use when
  searching for your site.
• Words or phrases that describe your web site or
  business.
• Create a list of them
• Include common misspellings
• Description
• What is special about your web site that would
  make someone want to visit?
• 25-30 words -- inviting and interesting
• Some search engines will display your description
  in the SERP

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XHTMLltmetagt tag

• The meta element
• A stand-alone tag
• Placed in the head section
• Attributes
• name
• Content
• ltmeta name"value" content"value" /gt
• Meta tags used by search engines
• namekeywords
• namedescription

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Keywords DescriptionMeta Tags

• Example Acme Design
• ltmeta name"keywords" content"Acme Design web
  development e-commerce ecommerce consulting
  consultation maintenance redesign Akme /gt
• ltmeta name"description" content"Acme Design, a
  premier web consulting group that specializes in
  E-commerce, web site design, web site
  development, and web site re-design." /gt

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Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• Meta Tags
• Title element includes the company and/or Web
  site name
• Heading tags include keywords
• Text on page includes keywords
• Navigation links can be followed by robot

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Listing in a Search Engine

• Wait until your site is finished
• Dont submit under construction Web sites!
• Visit Search Engine and look for Add URL or
  Submit your Site, or Add your Site, etc.
• Follow the directions and fill out the form
• A robot from the search engine will visit your
  Web site and index it
• Allow several weeks and test the search engine to
  see if your site is listed

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Preferential Placement

• Promotions vary
• Googles AdWords
• Yahoos Sponsor Results
• Check search engines for current preferential
  placement options

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Checkpoint 13.1

• Describe the difference between a search engine
  and a search directory. Provide an example of
  each.
• Describe the three components of a search engine.
• Is it beneficial for a business to pay for site
  submission? Is it beneficial for a business to
  pay for preferential listing? Explain.

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MonitorSearch Engine Listings

• Manual Check
• Analyze web site logs
• Run an automated tool to track and analyze
  keywords

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Link Popularity

• A a rating determined by a search engine based
  on
• the number of sites that link to a particular Web
  site
• the quality of the sites that the links are from
• The link popularity of your web site can help
  determine its order in the SERP

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Checking Link Popularity

• Analyze your log file
• Visit a link popularity checking service web site
• http//linkpopularity.com
• http//linkpopularitycheck.com
• Visit search engines and check for yourself
• At Google and AltaVista type the following into
  the search box
• linkyourdomainname.com

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Other Site PromotionActivities

• Affiliate Programs
• Banner Ads
• Banner Exchange
• Reciprocal Link Agreements
• Newsletters
• Sticky Site Features
• Blogs
• RSS Feeds
• Personal Recommendations
• Web Rings
• Newsgroup and Listserv Postings
• Traditional Media Ads
• Leverage Existing Marketing Materials

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Checkpoint 13.2

• 1. Are the results returned by various search
  engines really different?
• Choose a place, music group, or movie to search
  for.
• Enter the same search terms, such as Door
  County into the following three search engines
  Google, Yahoo!, Ask.com.
• List the URLs of the top three sites returned by
  each.
• Comment on your findings.

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Checkpoint 13.2

• 2. How can you determine if your web site has
  been indexed by a search engine?
• How can you determine which search engines are
  being used to find your site?
• 3. List four web site promotion methods that do
  not use search engines.
• Which would be your first choice? Why?

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Inline Frames

• Also called a floating frame
• Embeds one Web page within another in a scrolling
  area
• Configure with the ltinlinegt tag
• ltiframe src"trillium.html" title"Trillium Wild
  Flower" height"160" align"right" name"flower"
  width"320"gt Description of the lovely Spring
  wild flower, the lta href"trillium.html"
  target"_blank"gtTrilliumlt/agtlt/iframegt

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Summary

• This chapter introduced concepts related to
  promoting your web site.
• The activities involved in submitting web sites
  to search engines and search directories were
  discussed along with techniques for making your
  web site more useful to search engines.
• Other web site promotion activities such as
  banner ads and newsletters were also examined.
• At this point, you should have an idea of what is
  involved in the other side of web site
  development marketing and promotion.
• You can help the marketing staff by creating web
  sites that work with search engines and
  directories by following the suggestions in this
  chapter.